The Dillon tribune., 1887-08-19
4 HORleIRLt: WRECK.
a Double Reader Excursion Train lr,,a
ming Mite ~ Minute " rocked an.l
Burned.

Burned.
,CIlATswORTil, ILL.,. August li.--lt was a
wild throng which surrounded the Union
depot in Peoria this morning News Of
the. wreck Of the Niagara excursion train,
fifteen coaches and two engines, at vcrmil.
lion bridge, had spread like wild fire.
Four hundred cxcursionis,s from Peoria,
Canton, Eureka and other places, were
aboard. Some wild run,ors prevailed, 5ut
nothing Of an authentic nature could bc
learned until the relief .rpin reached its
destination, when a sad and gha>,'v sight
was brought to view; ten coaches had
either gone through the bridge o' were
piled in prorniscuous heap crosswise and
leng:hwise OF the track. Sl,rieks and
groans Of the wounded and dying could
be heard. The bridge through which the
cars went was small one. 1t had been
on fire which was the cause Of its breaking.
The dead bodies were conveyed to the
town hall, school house and depot plat.
form. Everything is in the widest confus.
ion, and many are 'nanylet: beyond recog.
milton. The cars were found to bc com.
plese'y crushed ard covered with blood
with here and there crashed human
frame or broken bone. Instantly Tue air
was filed with the cries o,I the wounded
and the shrieks OF those about to die. The
groans Of men, the creams Of women unit.
ed to make an appalling sound, and above
all could be heard the agonizing wall Of
little children. In some instances they lay
pinned alongside Of their dead parents. and
thereswas another terrible danger yet to be
met. The bridge was still burning and the
wrecked cars were lying around the i'erccly
burning e.nbcrs. Every where in the wreck
were the wounded and the unhur, ,ucn,
women and children, whose lives could be-
saved II they could be gotten out, but
whose death in . most horrible form was
certain If the twisted wood Of shc broken
cars caught fire, and to fight the FIRE there
was not drop Of water, and only some
| fifty able bodied men WHO had still pres.
cnce Of mind and nerve enough to do their
duty. nt g.
They se: to work digging dir, with their
hands and with it finally succeeded in
quenching the flames, then the work OF
rescue began in earnest
At daylight, the women OF C!,a.swcr,h
and surrounding country hurried to the
scene and did noble work in nursing the
wounded. Over in the lumber yard the
noise OF hammers and saws rang out on the
air and the busy carpenters were making
rough cottius to carry to their homes the
dead.
Soon after o'clock in the morning there
were plenty Of people to do the work that
needed prompt attention. In the town
hall was the mans hospital and in it anx.
ious relatives and sorrowful friends sa,
tanning the sufferers faces. Down in the
dead houses mothers, husbands, brothers.
sisters, wives, children, tearfully inspected
each face as it was uncovered, and sighed
as the features were unknown or cried ON,
in anguish when the well-known face
fearfully manglcd but yet recognizable, was
uncovered.
| CHICAGO, August 12.--ln addition 10 :he
eighty. six or eighty seven known TO be
dead, there were three OF the wounded al
Chatsworth whom the physicians pro.
nounced to be beyond recovery. AT the
depot and other places where the dead lay
there were many sad SCENES to day. Anx
ious relatives arrived from the towns along
the line west and began to search Tor their
friends among the mangled and ghas,ly
corpscs.
! CHICAGO, August l3.--A special from
Chatsworth to-day to the Chicago Esv"iMes
.Nezps, says: Although up to the present
the dead, including a body recovered from
the wreck last night, number not more
that seventy. seven, there is reasonable
room for belief that there have been other
deaths, perhaps half dozen, resulting from
the tragedy, which cannot be definitely re-
ported, owing to the confusion and lack OF
system when the bodies were being taken
away. Neither can full list be presented
to the public, for scores whose injuries
were light enough to permit it, took trains
at Chatsworth or Piper City at the first op-
portunlty and went home. The official list
OF the wounded, who have been taken
care Of here and at Piper City, does not at
present show any more than loo victims,
but there is no doubt whatever that many
| ,,.o.a 4ha,, Al,at ,.e.., iniurcd The COrO.